Café & Kosmos - Dark Energy - why the Universe expands ever faster

After Dark Matter in December 2010, the next Café & Kosmos on 7 February 2011 will deal with the second large invisible component of the Universe, Dark Energy. Representing 73 per cent of the whole energy budget, Dark Energy dominates the Universe - also in another respect: It is the driving force behind its accelerated expansion. The discovery that the Universe not only expands but does so ever faster was made in 1998, so fairly recently.

The research of Prof. Stefan Hofmann from the Excellence Cluster Universe tries to answer the question how Dark Energy can be incorporated into existing physical models. Together with the guests in Café & Kosmos the cosmologist will discuss various scenarios: Is it the cosmological constant proposed by Einstein or rather vacuum energy - or do the scientists have to come up with an alternative theory of gravity for physics on large distances?

The Café & Kosmos series of discussions is organised jointly by ESO, the Excellence Cluster Universe and the Max-Planck Institutes for Physics, Astrophysics and Extraterrestrial Physics. The discussions take place on the first Monday of each month at Café Jasmin in Munich. After a brief introduction the scientists take questions from the audience and discuss current issues from the cosmos.

Please note that the Café & Kosmos events take place in German.